India detains Pakistani messenger pigeon

The Punjab Police have said they have "taken into custody" a pigeon that was found near the state's border with Pakistan, carrying a note with a threat message for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the NDTV, the police had said officers of the Border Security Force or BSF had found the bird in Pathankot, where Pakistani terrorists had attacked an Air Force base in January this year.

A police inspector, Rakesh Kumar, told news agency AFP that the bird was found with a note in Urdu tied to it. "It said something like 'Modi, we're not the same people from 1971. Now each and every child is ready to fight against India'," Mr Kumar said.

He said the note was apparently signed by the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and "so we are investigating the matter very seriously."

Security forces are on high alert at the borders with Pakistan in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir amid heightened tension after terrorists sneaked into India two weeks ago and attacked an Army base in Kashmir's Uri, killing 19 soldiers.

Last week, the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes across the Line of Control against terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where several teams of terrorists were waiting to infiltrate into India.

Recently, two balloons were found in Punjab with similar threat messages addressed to PM Modi in Urdu.

Last year, the police had captured a pigeon on suspicion that it was being used for espionage by Pakistan and had x-rayed it to check for spy cameras, transmitters or hidden chips. In 2013, security forces had found a dead falcon fitted with a small camera, and in 2010 another pigeon was captured over spying fears.